What is Ethical Hacking? We explain term and background

The hacker per se is readily associated with illegal activities on computers. Countless media portrayals underline the stereotype. Yet hacking per se is neither good nor bad.

Black and white: ethical hackers stand for good in the complex IT world.

Hacking translates as "intrusion" and in computer terms the word describes bypassing, tricking or penetrating systems of all kinds. This requires a lot of technical finesse and experience.

This is what makes Ethical Hacking

Hacking itself is thus a rather sober word that simply describes a technical process. Since this is also often used for criminal purposes, the word has a corresponding connotation. Ethical hacking therefore deliberately describes the opposite:

• Ethical hackers, so ethical hackers, apply their ability to find security vulnerabilities and threats.
• This is done, for example, quite officially on behalf of companies, but often also on their own initiative.
• The explicit permission on the part of the operator is one of the requirements to be allowed to see the activity as ethically clean.
• During the process, ethical hackers are required to respect the privacy of databases, for example.
• Followed by the obligation to report transparently, comprehensively and honestly about possible findings.
• There is even an official certification, namely "Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)". This is somewhat recognized, but partly also controversial and not a prerequisite to work in this field.

Ethical hackers are thus the counterparts of criminal hackers. Provided the necessary skills, good money can be earned with this activity, as online security is an important topic that will become even more important in the future.